Shamefully, I have sometimes wished for others’ misfortune.

I prayed that those who troubled me without reason would suffer at least as much as I did.

Friends who threw stones at me for being a parentless child, the homeroom teacher who said I had learned nothing because I had no parents even though I was unfairly bullied.

I was so resentful that I made wicked prayers.

Leaning against the creaky iron bed in the orphanage, I clasped my hands earnestly and prayed to the sky.

I don’t know if that prayer was answered.

After that, I transferred schools and never met those children and that teacher again.

I wasn’t a good child.

I wasn’t meek enough to accept the bullying willingly, and I wished for those who troubled me to suffer as much as I did.

However, one thing is certain.

I don’t want to witness my wish actually coming true.

“Oh my, what’s going on?”

“I’m so scared. Poisoning, they say!”

The mansion was in turmoil from the morning.

As I went to the main building to prepare Dietrich’s breakfast, I walked slowly, listening to the chattering maids.

The maids, huddled together in groups, whispered among themselves.

“Then was the tutor targeted from the beginning?”

“No. After all, young master Yurian also collapsed after eating that pie. It’s really fortunate. If he had eaten a little more, he would have died. Like the tutor.”

“They say the tutor died as if just falling asleep. It’s really creepy!”

‘The tutor died?’

I was so shocked that I almost dropped the tray I was holding.

The dishes I had carefully prepared that morning wobbled precariously.

‘Oh no?’

Just as I thought it was about to spill.

Thud.

A large hand quickly caught the tray.

Calm teal eyes stared at me quietly, having appeared in the first-floor corridor at some point.

“Why are you standing like that? Get a hold of yourself and follow me.”

At Dietrich’s words, I barely managed to climb to the second floor and enter the study. He took the tray and placed it on the table.

Then he gently grabbed my wrist and sat me down on the sofa.

He then tossed the paper he was holding onto the desk.

Even then, I couldn’t come to my senses.

The pie the maids were whispering about was certainly the peach pie I had taken to Yurian yesterday.

‘That pie was taken back by Yurian’s dedicated maid.’

It seemed the incident occurred after that.

The tutor and Yurian collapsed after eating the peach pie that the maid brought back.

Fortunately, Yurian survived, but the tutor died.

‘Was there already poison in the pie when I first brought it?’

If so, I almost gave Yurian a poisoned pie.

If the tutor hadn’t refused at first, I would have been the one to hand Yurian the poisoned pie.

Realizing this, my hands began to tremble uncontrollably.

To think I almost killed Yurian.

And to think the tutor died after eating that pie.

Although I resented the tutor for slapping me, I didn’t wish for their death.

Who could have done such a thing?

Suddenly, I realized that I could be a suspect too.

I was the one who initially brought the pie from the kitchen.

Although I handed it to Yurian’s dedicated maid, it wouldn’t be strange if they said I had poisoned it before giving it to her.

‘No way!’

Of course, it was that maid who directly brought the pie to Yurian, but I had also carried the pie looking for Yurian.

‘Could it have been the chief chef?’

I immediately shook my head.

Someone so passionate about cooking wouldn’t have tampered with food.

‘Who really did it?’

If someone were to say that I had gone looking for Yurian with the pie, wouldn’t I become a suspect in the poisoning?

What if Dietrich suspects me?

Worries began to spread endlessly, dominating my thoughts.

“Harpe.”

“……”

“Harpe!”

The low, firm voice piercing my ears barely brought me back to my senses.

“Harpe. It’s alright, look at me.”

“What, what?”

Under his gaze carefully examining my face, I shrank back even though I had done nothing wrong.

“Is it because you heard about the poisoning incident?”

Dietrich, mentioning the poisoning incident, seemed as calm as if it had nothing to do with him.

I tried to open my trembling lips to answer. However, my mind, covered in fear and guilt, was already blank, and no words came out.

All I could do was nod.

Dietrich pierced a well-cooked ravioli with a fork and held it out to me.

“Hmm?”

I was momentarily surprised by Dietrich’s strange behavior of suddenly offering food.

He shook the fork as if urging me to eat quickly.

“Are you going to just watch until my arm falls off?”

As I took the fork with a dazed expression, he now even insisted that I eat.

“Hurry up and put it in your mouth first.”

As I put it in my mouth as instructed, I could fully taste the chef’s fantastic culinary skills.

Even in the midst of anxiety and fear, delicious food is delicious.

I let out a hollow laugh and put the fork down on the table.

“Good, now you’re back to normal.”

Seeing my color return, he gave a faint smile.

Looking at the beautiful man smiling with his lips curled up, I calmly opened my mouth.

“Dietrich, listen. I have something to tell you. The person who first brought the pie to young master Yurian yesterday was me.”

“……”

“The maids in the main building were busy, so I thought it would be good if I delivered it, and I ran the errand, but I didn’t know things would turn out like this. Yurian’s dedicated maid took the pie again in the middle, and it seems the incident happened after that.”

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t afraid while telling this story.

I was so scared of what would happen if Dietrich suspected me of being a murderer after hearing my words.

But I had to carefully retrace the truth.

‘If someone had wanted me to deliver that pie directly to Yurian from the start, they were targeting me.’

They wanted me to be suspected of poisoning.

But why?

Although I confessed with a trembling heart, Dietrich showed no particular reaction.

He just leaned back comfortably on the sofa and said something out of the blue.

“By the way, why am I just Dietrich and Yurian is young master Yurian?”

……This guy, really.

I’m dying of seriousness here, and he’s trying to change the subject with useless talk!

I laughed, “Ha,” as if dumbfounded, and asked.

“……Is that important right now?”

“Yes.”

He says it’s important.

Furrowing his brow, he answered seriously and persistently asked.

“Why don’t you call me young master Dietrich?”

“Alright! I’ll do it!”

“Never mind. If you call me young master, it might seem… awkward……”

He turned his head to the side, trailing off.

What is he doing, acting so childishly!

I was dumbfounded by Dietrich’s attitude, which didn’t seem serious at all.

Although they were estranged siblings, what happened in the mansion today was an extremely sensitive incident.

There had been an attempt to poison a young lord of the Delgado family, so they would be desperate to find suspects on a large scale.

If not careful, Dietrich might be pointed out as the mastermind behind everything.

After all, everyone in the family and the empire knew that Dietrich and Yurian didn’t get along.

“It’s a serious matter, Dietrich.”

“I suppose so. Everyone must be in an uproar. According to what you say, you could be suspected too.”

“That’s right.”

Finally returning to the proper flow of conversation, I took a deep breath and continued.

“You might not believe me, but it wasn’t me. Really, I have no reason to do so. Why would I want to put young master Yurian in danger?”

“……”

“But it seems someone wants me to become a suspect. Looking at how they wanted me to deliver the poisoned pie from the beginning.”

Thinking carefully, originally Yurian’s dedicated maid should have come to the kitchen to get the pie.

However, saying that the main building was busy, it was specifically requested that I deliver it.

‘But clearly, neither Yurian nor the maid seemed to know about the peach pie.’

That meant someone wanted me to be the culprit.

‘Who on earth did this?’

If Yurian had collapsed after eating the peach pie I delivered, the plan would have succeeded……

Fortunately, with Yurian’s tutor and maid intervening, things went awry.

At that moment, Dietrich crossed his legs, ran his hand through his silver-gray hair, and sneered.

“Don’t you have a hunch about whose plot this might be?”

“Huh?”

Clicking his tongue softly, he smiled with a hint of contempt.

“Harpe. Why don’t you be honest? Who are you closest to in this mansion?”

Who am I closest to?

I slowly recalled friendly faces in my mind.

Always kind and gentle Marie, mischievous and talkative but reliable Robert, Blaine with his lovely smile, jovial Uncle Calt, and so on.

Choosing the closest person among so many faces was harder than I thought.

After hesitating for a moment, I mentioned the name of the person I spent the most time with.

“Robert?”

But it seemed to be the wrong answer.

As soon as he heard the name ‘Robert’, Dietrich’s face contorted mercilessly.

“Robert.”

He slowly chewed on Robert’s name, seeming displeased.

“Yes, Robert!”

Even thinking about it again, Robert seemed to be the closest to me now.

We’re together every day without a moment’s rest, how could we not be close?

Of course, I felt a little sorry for Marie, Blaine, and Uncle Calt.

That didn’t mean they were less important than Robert.

It just meant that in terms of the time we spent together, it was like that.

I added words, lest Dietrich misunderstand.

“Ah! Of course, I don’t mean Marie, Blaine, and Uncle Calt are less important than Robert! They’re all important to me.”

His teal eyes, reminiscent of the sea or a summer forest, sank deeply.

“My name isn’t there either.”

“What do you mean?”

I couldn’t understand why he suddenly said his name wasn’t there.

Meanwhile, Dietrich, leaning on the sofa, asked in an arrogant tone.

“You, aren’t you close to me?”